Wedding Vows

Sometimes love is forever forsaking all others

Wedding Vows

 

 

It was on a quiet afternoon early one spring when I met him for the first time.  It was one of those days when everything is crisp and bright, when the grass seems a little greener and the sun shines a little more yellow than it did all winter.  The wind blew a little cold across the open field " “the last dying breath of winter.”  A young man turned up the collar up on a jacket was a little too thin for the cold outside and didn’t do much for the cold inside either.

 

“So, we finally meet.  What brings you around on this beautiful day?” I asked him.  “I bet it feels very strange from where you’re standing.  How does it feel to greet your wife’s ex-husband with hat-in-hand?”

 

“Well,” He said, looking down at the ground.  “I know you never expected to see me here but I’m hoping for some advice.  I know you had no control over what happened, but leaving the way you did…”  He said but then stopped.  “I guess that really isn’t fair, but I don’t know what to do anymore.  This is really killing me.  This doesn’t seem fair for me at all, either.  I guess I just need a little guidance.  I’d appreciate some advice if you can spare any.”

 

“Come on,” I said.  “Throw it at me.  What troubles you?  How can I be of service?  Help me help you…  You have to see this from my point-of-view, to appreciate the humor.  It’s really breathtaking.  You’ll have to excuse my sarcasm.”

 

He buried his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket and continued to stare at the ground.  I could tell this conversation was something he had been considering for a while but that, like some poems didn’t quite make it to the paper the way it sounded in the head.

 

“The kids are good,” He said, “They miss you a lot.  They talk about you all the time.  I think I know more about you than I do about myself, anymore.”  He smiled a troubled smile.  “I know I’ll never be able to take your place in their hearts, but I don’t want to.  I just want them to love me too.  You know it’s hard enough without the cold blank stare.” He gave a shaky smile.

 

“Well, I guess I’m supposed to apologize or something?”  I asked.  “Sorry I’ve made such an impact on the lives of others…?”

 

After a long, contemplating pause, he continued.  “And…   speaking of filling your shoes…  It seems really weird for me to tell you like this but I don’t know of any other way to say it.  I have to face it and try to get past it.  She still loves you.  Every night I go to bed knowing that the most amazing woman in the world is my wife.  I see her there and I fall in love again every day.  And every night I hear her crying in her dreams.  Every morning I see the tear stains on her cheeks and the moisture on her pillow.  I wonder what she sees in her dreams that make her smile into her pillow on some nights but I know it isn’t me.  The woman I love is in love with another man.  Every day I try to think of ways to have what you two had but I only end up reminding her of you.”

“Forever and for always,” I told him.  “But you probably already know that.  I stand by that still.  And I guess she does to.  I won’t apologize for that.  I was there as much as I could be but there came a point that I just couldn’t go home anymore.”

 

“I know that,” He said.  “I’ve seen the poems you wrote her.  I’ll never be able to write like that.  Her mom tells me you wrote her poems all the time.  She has a few of them framed.  She still has your picture in the hallway.  I understand true love and I would never ask her to take it down.  But it does serve as a constant reminder I am not the man she is supposed to be with.”

 

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said.  “She can’t control her feelings and she knows I had little choice in this whole matter.  You have a responsibility to give her everything of yourself.  I still love her now as much as I ever did and I always will.  Living with her was difficult at times, but I would never give back a single moment of any of it " good times or bad.  Don’t day-dream about how you think it should be so much that you lose out on what it is.  You came to see me for advice so here it is:  love her completely, be there for her always, listen to her, and make sure she knows who you really are.  If that’s not good enough for her then that’s not my fault.  If my shoes are too big to fill then maybe it’s because your feet are too small.  Deal with it.  Give her you.  And try to smile more.”

 

Silence fell across the young man’s mind and somewhere in the wind a bird’s song danced.  The rustling of the leaves cloaked the quiet backdrop and the air seemed to get a little colder.  We formed an understanding that day and I know I helped him.  I helped her.  He knew he had to give her everything and wait.  One day, she would be able to do the same for him.

 

“The truth is written in front of you,” I said.  “Loving Husband, Father, Brother, Son.  She and I shared a love that transcends beyond the grave.”

 

Author's Note

This is one of my first attempts at writing without verse. I am a confessed amateur.

Reviews

[Kelsie Eileen Stark]

This was great,Bringing together to different and separte people back again to share news of their lives s great. ;]

[Coyote Poetry]

Meeting a ex-husband and having a serious conversation would be very hard. A very strong story. I like the detail of the poetry and the advice given. The story had no weakness. Just great wisdom.
"Deal with it. Give her you. And try to smile more.”
A powerful story. Life teaches us to be quiet and listen.
Coyote